Possible traffic options questioned in ‘special neighborhood’ near Dayton Mall
Longtime residents MIAMI TWP. — of a neighborhood near the Dayton Mall and Ohio 741 are questioning traffic control changes recommended for a road Miami Twp. wants to extend to the state route.
Five options outlined for Vienna Parkway range from mini roundabouts to sidewalk extensions to pavement markings as the township plans to complete the road as outlined in a decades-old thoroughfare plan.
“No options, recommendations, or solutions at this point are off the table,” according to the township, which held an open house last month on a Vienna Parkway traffic study by LJB.
Some residents told trustees last week they think mini roundabouts would do more harm than good after the 650-foot road extension.
Curt Heaton, a nearly 20-year resident of Vienna Woods Trail, said it would be “ill advised to put two on Vienna Parkway. One stop sign or two stop signs would pretty much take care of the situation and cut down on the increased speed that may happen.”
Others said they were against the road extension despite what Montgomery County’s thoroughfare plan calls for.
“A lot has changed in 50 years,” said 10-year resident Mike Swanson. “Just because a plan is 50 years old doesn’t make it a good plan.”
Vienna Parkway — a 44-foot wide road that begins at Mad River Road and goes east — is lined with stylish brick homes, currently insulated from Ohio 741. One 19-year resident said he was “concerned the proposed changes to Vienna Parkway will alter that atmosphere.”
He called it “a special neighborhood ... There’s something unique and special here – unlike any other neighborhood in Miami Twp.”
The township wants to extend Vienna Parkway as it develops several acres it purchased last year.
The township’s plan Vienna Center – is a 13-acre proposal to develop the area around the planned Vienna Parkway intersection at Ohio 741 and Cox Arboretum’s entrance.
A significant part of that development would be a care facility proposed by Trilogy Health Services. The Louisville Ky.-based company is targeting completion of its site in 2021, township officials have said.
The plan to extend Vienna Parkway currently includes two westbound lanes - including a turn lane - and an eastbound one, records show. The west and eastbound lanes near the intersection includes a median.
The Vienna Center plan has yet to come before trustees, Board President Doug Barry said. It is scheduled to go before the zoning commission Tuesday night, according to the township website.
Which Vienna Parkway traffic control options are adopted by the township that “will be based on the responses received from the residents,” Deputy Community Development Director Kyle Hinkelman said in an email.
“All five recommendations could potentially be implemented if the residents want those solutions,” he said. “There is also the possibility that a mix of solutions could be implemented if those meet the needs of the neighborhood.”